Following a bitter six-month campaign, over 800,000 polling stations opened across the sprawling nation today as over 192 million registered Indonesian voters across 17,000 islands gear up to cast their ballots.
Millions of Indonesians made their way to polling booths on Wednesday to determine their new president and more than 20,000 legislative seats in the world’s biggest one-day democratic election.
In what has been called one of the world’s most-complicated ballots, Indonesians will simultaneously vote for both the president and parliament for the first time in the country’s history. Voters will cast five physical ballots to determine the president, vice president as well as regional and national legislative candidates, reported NDTV.
President Joko Widodo, a former furniture salesman from the island of Java, is up for re-election against Prabowo Subianto, a former general and ex-son-in-law of the country’s longtime leader Suharto. The two had previously faced-off in the last election. Widodo’s win in 2014 marked the first time an Indonesian leader with no affinity to the military or political elites had been chosen as the head of state.
Widodo is the frontrunner and has maintained a double-digit lead over his opponent in recent months, according to most opinion polls. But Prabowo disputed the predictions on Tuesday, telling reporters at a press conference that he expected to earn 63 percent of the votes.
United States Latest News, United States Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Explainer: Indonesia's election: the people, issues and preparationsMore than 192 million Indonesians are eligible to vote in presidential and parli...
Read more »
Indonesia's election: the people, issues and preparationsIndonesia's election: the people, issues and preparations in the world’s third-biggest democracy
Read more »
In world's biggest one-day election, Indonesia votes for its presidentIndonesians began voting in the world's biggest single-day election on Wedn...
Read more »
Indonesians vote in world's biggest one-day electionMore than 190 million Indonesians cast a ballot, with a record 245,000 candidates running for public office in the world's third-biggest democracy, from the presidency and parliamentary seats to local positions.
Read more »
Indonesians choose president and parliament in world's biggest one-day voteMore than 190 million Indonesians are set to cast a ballot, with a record 245,000 candidates running for public office in the world's third-biggest democracy, from the presidency and parliamentary seats to local positions.
Read more »
Indonesians to vote in world's biggest single-day electionTens of millions of Indonesians will vote in presidential and parliamentary elec...
Read more »
Indonesia heads to polls in a Jokowi-Prabowo grudge matchVoting in the world’s largest Muslim country seen as referendum on incumbent, who faces a tougher challenge from 2014 political nemesis.
Read more »
‘It’s going to be close’: As Indonesia heads to the polls, identity politics loom largeRising conservatism in the Muslim-majority country, the world’s third-largest democracy, is a factor for both the incumbent president and his rival.
Read more »